Lucknow. The master mind of the famous scholarship scam of Rs 200 crore was the director of the Hygia group. During the interrogation of the three accused arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday, it has come to light that the scam was first perpetrated by Hyjia group of colleges. After that some other educational institutions also participated in the scam at the behest of Ravi Prakash Gupta, an employee of Fino Bank.
The ED has also recovered several documents from the colleges of the Hygeia group on Thursday. The bank accounts of the colleges are also being scrutinised. On February 16, ED raided 10 educational institutions in several cities including Lucknow, Hardoi and Barabanki regarding this matter. After this, ED had registered a case against 18 people.
Ravi Prakash Gupta, an employee of Fino Bank, used to open fake banks of students in connivance with the operators in all educational institutions. After that he used to keep their ATM and mobile SIM with him. Most of the students whose bank accounts were opened were ineligible. Some were seven to 12 years old and some senior citizens were also such in whose name Ravi Gupta had opened accounts in the bank.
Their admissions were made in the colleges of the Hygia group. After this, Ravi Gupta and Izhar Hussain Jafri and Ali Abbas Jafri, who were associated with the Haijia group, used to withdraw the scholarship coming from the government in the bank. Izhar is the vice president of the Oregon Educational Society of the Haijia Group and Ali Abbas is posted as the manager.
All the three accused are being interrogated by the ED. It is expected that more layers of this scam will open in a day or two. After that, the names of directors and employees of some more colleges related to the scam are expected to come to the fore. The ED will present the three accused in the court after the remand period ends on May 1.